Pavel Sudoplatov, one of Stalin’s spymasters, had this advice for his officers seeking to recruit spies in Western countries: ‘search for people who are hurt by fate or nature – the ugly, those suffering from an inferiority complex, craving
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“We live in an age where competition, domination and one-upmanship are portrayed as the crucial elements for survival. Where power and influence both subtle and glaring, are thought primarily necessary for one’s deepest fulfillment and gratification. But the ant and the caterpillar, like the Honey guide and the Badger or the Hermit crab and the Sea anemone, are beacons for a different kind of community. A community where relating and relationship, synergy and symbiosis and being there for one another, are regarded above everything else.”
― A Naturalist’s Journal
― A Naturalist’s Journal
“Fitzjames had once asked him how he could approach life-threatening peril and minor annoyances with the same mildness and he’d shrugged. ‘It doesn’t improve my mood to catastrophise, so I don’t.’ ‘And what about hope? Have you ever been in love, Graham?’ Fitzjames had asked. ‘Ever lived for the bestowment of a fair smile?’ ‘Ah, love, life’s greatest catastrophe.”
― The Ministry of Time
― The Ministry of Time
“We spend so much time being afraid of failure, afraid of rejection. But regret is the thing we should fear most. Failure is an answer. Rejection is an answer. Regret is an eternal question you will never have the answer to. “What if …” “If only …” “I wonder what would have …” You will never, never know, and it will haunt you for the rest of your days.”
― Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
― Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
“Ideas are frictional, factional entities which wilt when pinned to flowcharts. Ideas have to cause problems before they cause solutions.”
― The Ministry of Time
― The Ministry of Time
Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge
— 26872 members
— last activity 9 hours, 36 min ago
An annual reading challenge to to help you stretch your reading limits and explore new voices, worlds, and genres! The challenge begins in January, bu ...more
Rohit’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Rohit’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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